Analysis

• Rock 'n rolling stock: insurers find an opportunity in railway assets

  11 October 2017

  Having facilitated some £2bn of direct investment in UK rail in less than two years, Rock Rail is helping to ease the industry's infrastructure woes with a steady pipeline of projects insurers can gain direct exposure to. Asa Gibson reports

  

• The relative value in emerging markets

  06 October 2017

  An economic slowdown in China and the oil price crash of 2014-15 put many investors off emerging market assets, but Paul Forshaw, global head of insurance asset management at Schroders, believes insurers may be enticed by their relative value compared to developed markets.

  

• How asset managers can data-mine 3,500 insurers

  04 October 2017

  Solvency II reports are giving investment managers a goldmine of data and narrative by which to analyse underwriters and win a competitive edge. David Walker explains how.

  

• Folksam CIO: "There is simply no reason not to continue investing in green bonds"

  29 September 2017

  Michael Kjeller, chief investment officer of Swedish pensions and insurance provider Folksam, discusses his firm's decision to raise its target for green bond investment

  

• Insurers target improved ALM and private assets to enhance investment profits

  27 September 2017

  Blackrock's 2017 Global Insurance Survey reveals some telling figures regarding insurers' attitudes towards the role of the investment function, and how they plan to manipulate their activities to improve profitability. Asa Gibson reports

  

• New tools for understanding the impact of investment decisions on capital

  22 September 2017

  Insurers are under increasing pressure to manage the sensitivity of solvency ratios to their asset mix, but even sophisticated internal models may not be up to this task. Steven Morrison describes an alternative approach using proxy modelling

  

• Size does matter when evaluating core fixed income returns

  13 September 2017

  Scott Skowronski explores how core fixed income strategies are far from a commoditised space, and how the size of the asset manager has an influence on returns

  

• Q&A: Why Swiss Re chose ESG benchmarks

  08 September 2017

  The group's chief investment officer, Guido Fürer, explains why he feels that adopting the ESG benchmarks has been the most meaningful and strategic step in its journey to integrate ESG considerations

  

• The calm before the storm: 'Investors should be worried'

  06 September 2017

  Some investors and analysts have been surprised by the calmness of financial markets at a time of political and economic uncertainty. Sarfraz Thind talks to seven senior investment professionals working with insurance assets about their prognosis for the future.

  

• Between a rock and a hard place: Japan's life insurers must invest wisely

  30 August 2017

  With negative-yielding domestic bonds, a back book with high return guarantees and a prudential solvency regulation on the horizon, Japanese life insurers are caught between a rock and a hard place. David Turner reports.